Music

July 15, 2011

I haven't actually fallen off the face of the earth - turns out the thing is technically a GLOBE, plus it has no face except in limited areas like Mount Rushmore (which you probably could fall off of). Additionally, as nearly every school child knows, only the moon has a face. Duh!

In any case, I'm resurfacing here briefly because I thought you'd all like to know that this weekend, I'm checking something off my bucket list - playing in Godspell!

This isn't just any version of Godspell, though, nope! We are doing the same score from the 2001 Tour. This is significant in a number of ways:

The original was created with the contemporary folk/rock music of 1970.

It's sounding a little dated.

Alex Lacamoire re-wrote the score, modernizing the sound while retaining all the classic melodies.

Stephen Schwartz loves it.

You can't get the rights for it.

I really wanted to do this version (hence, BUCKET LIST)

I wrote to Stephen Schwartz's office asking about it.

Stephen Schwartz's office put me in contact with the composer and music director (Alex Lacamoire) of the 2001 Tour.

Alex Lacamoire turns out to be a very personable guy!

We work out a little deal, lawyers are briefly involved, money changes hands and he grants us the rights to use his score!

Alex sends me his score in a big box from FedEX.

This weekend we PERFORM it!

So, you see, it is really quite extraordinary and you really don't want to miss it! We have a great cast, a great crew, and some of my favorite local musicians making up a killer rock band! You may never get another chance to see this. Why miss it?

The show will be at Christ Memorial Lutheran Church at 5252 S. Lindbergh Blvd. 63126 (the old Target Building in South County next to Ronnie's plaza!) Tickets range from $10-$20 and are available at the door. Tickets will be for sale starting 60 minutes prior to show time.

Complete information is available at www.cmpshows.org. Click on the links for "Godspell."

You can come see me in person, I'm the guy buried up to my neck in instruments, and find out what I've been up to!

July 06, 2009

If I've been lucky enough to have you reading here for a while, you know that my family works on a lot of musicals. This all started when our church did a "One Time Only" production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" as a way to get the community into our new location - an old Target store on South Lindbergh.

Well, much to our surprise, the production was a HUGE hit, as night after night we looked at the lines of people, reaching out into the parking lot, streaming in to see the show. Well, we were hooked. We've been producing both sacred and secular production ever since.

In 2008, we produced our 4th fall musical (the time of year we have settled on doing a Broadway show). In 2008, we did "Music Man."

Again, it was a huge success by any measure, and best of all, we were all really proud of the work we had done, which involved somewhere around 150 people, both from our church and the community. This year, we learned that we received 12 "Arts for Life" nominations for the show, including the big one "Best Large Ensemble Musical." No matter what else happened, our show was selected as one of the five best of the year! We also tied one other theater company in most award nominations. The "Arts for Life" awards are basically a St. Louis version of the "Tony's" for amateur theater. It's thrilling to receive the recognition these nominations provide from the theater community!

Finally, last weekend (the weekend after Father's Day), the award show was upon us.

The awards show was held at the beautiful "Sheldon Concert Hall" smack in the middle of the theater district in Mid-town St. Louis.

Interestingly, this year I had decided not to rent a tux to save a bit of money (these formal events can be costly!) and go with my suit, instead. However, at the last minute I learned that my suit was in no condition to be used and was in a bit of a bind! Believe it or not, I ended up BUYING a Clavin Klein tux. This now expands my mostly t-shirt wardrobe to include t-shirts AND A TUX. Well, over time, this will save me some money, right? The rest of the family is smashing as always. This picture was taken just before going in for the awards show, in a reception area. That's Rebecca, Rachel, and Dianne in the front, and me in the back. You didn't actually think I looked like Micky Mouse, did you?

Since my wife, Dianne, won an awardlast year. She was a presenter this year. Here is a fuzzy, low-light picture of her opening the envelope to reveal the winner from her category this year!

Since we were nominated as best musical, we got to do a production number during the awards show. We did a combination of "76 Trombones", "Sincere" (the barbershop quartet), and then "Shipoopi." In the actual show, the "Shipoopi" dance had over 80 people in it! Fortunately, not everyone could come, because they would not have fit on the small Sheldon stage. We DID have around 30 performers though, and they BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN. It was incredible. We looked like "best musical" contenders! My wife is in the middle of this shot, back row, just under the video of our program cover. My daughter, Rebecca, is actually on the floor in front of the stage, but you can't see her very well in this exposure.

This shot is the BIG FINISH of the dance. They had just yelled "Shipoopi!" for the last time. <sniff>

Eventually, we got down to the final award presentation for "Best Large Ensemble Musical." As it turned out, we did not win. "Big - The Musical" won, and it looked like it was also an incredible show. They were also the OTHER show that had 12 nominations. They ended up walking away with three awards, and we received two.

Our award winners were Bethany Poppitz for "Best Actress in a non-singing role" and Kristi Eberley for "Best Lighting Design." Congrats to everyone!

Afterward, there was a nice reception where we mingled with the rest of the St. Louis Theater Community, including a number of Muny performers that were in "Annie" at The Muny. The shot above is "Mint Julep" on the left (you've read about her here before! Click the link!) and my daughter Rebecca on the right.

Obviously, you want to be part the excitement this year, right? Well we will be doing "Annie" ourselves for two weeks in September. Tickets go on sale August 8th. For more information, click through to the Christ Memorial Productions website!

July 01, 2009

Although "behind the scenes" work has been going on for some time, last night was the first cast rehearsal for this fall's musical from our production company, Christ Memorial Productions. We're doing "Annie" this September (for two weeks - 18th, 19th, 20th, 25th, 26th, 27th!) and boy did the Muny set the bar high this past week! Their production of "Annie" this year was the best I've seen. Still, I promise that you will not be disappointed with our production. Anyone who has ever seen one of ours will tell you the same!

Here are a couple of shots I took at the initial cast rehearsal. You know the drill, all shots available light, Nikon D60, 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 kit lens.

FDR's wheelchair. How awesome is that? As far as you know, this really could BE his wheelchair!

...and here's the cast! Doing their first read-through.

We got kids! You wouldn't believe how many talented kids are right here in St. Louis!

A part of the world's greatest tech crew. Someday, they will invent awards just to give them to this group. How many tech crews show up at the first read through? OURS! They rock. Seriously.

Believe it or not, this really is our lighting director, Kristi. She HAS won an award! If you look closely at this picture, you can see why she is so awesome at lighting. She's pretty much a colorful blur!

June 24, 2009

This wordless post is a continuation of Monday's...but with more pics! These all come from last Thursday's grand opening celebration at the new Shock City Studios, home of Shock City Music. I spent some more time there yesterday, and just have to say that if you are a band looking for a studio for your next CD or video project, and you live within 2000 miles of Shock City (or perhaps more), you'd be crazy not to check this place out!

June 22, 2009

My friend Dana, blogger extraordinaire and local radio personality, is just one part of a talented St. Louis family. Her husband, Chris Loesch, is a talented musician and producer. Over the past five years, his labor of love has been the rehabbing of an old St. Louis City building, the old Polar Wave Ice and Fuel Company, and the development of new offices and studios for his music company, Shock City Music. Along with his partners, he has transformed what was essentially a warehouse into a state of the art recording studio call Shock City Studios.

April 14, 2009

On Friday, I mentioned our Good Friday Passion musical that we were doing as part of our Good Friday service. This is a musical with a small amount of dialogue, full orchestra, and choir, along with several soloists.

This was very exciting, this year, for the "One Dad's Life" family, because my wife Dianne was the producer/director/costume person...and also because our 7-year old, Rachel, was going to be singing a solo in the production!

The trick with this solo is that it is a brief couple of lines, inside another song the choir and orchestra are doing. So, the choir sings their part, the music modulates into another melody over four measures, and Rachel sings - by herself, with the entire orchestra playing. The measure her part is over, the whole choir comes in. So, she has to pick up her cues, sing exactly with the orchestra and then the choir comes in. Nerve-racking for a 7-year old, right?

Well, we arrived early to make sure that there were no problems, and that all was in place for the service that contained this musical. At the time we got there, a family oriented service was going on, so we attended most of that. During what would be the sermon time, all the kids gathered up at the front and the pastor talks to them at their level about the significance and events of Good Friday.

Rachel would NOT go up in front!

Gregg: Why don't you want to go up there?

Rachel: (acting very shy) I just don't.

G: Are you shy?

R: (nods head)

G: You are KIDDING me, right? In two hours, you are going to be standing up there, by yourself, in front of HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of people, singing a solo with the orchestra! How can you be too nervous to go up there now?

R: (shakes head, shrugs shoulders)

G: Is it so different?

R: (shakes head in affirmation, vigorously) Dad, THAT is TOTALLY different!

G: Really!?

R: Yes, it is. I'm not going up there without a drama going on!

Kids, these days! However, we are VERY proud of her for doing the solo, which she pretty much ROCKED on! She can actually sing on pitch and keep time with the orchestra, which isn't bad for a 7-year old at all.

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Photo credit: Larry Jost. I was running sound for the orchestra and soloists, so couldn't get one in, even though my camera was at arms length from me! Click on the photo to enlarge. Rachel is the little one in the shot...just in case you couldn't figure that out.

April 10, 2009

I mentioned earlier in the week that all our time was consumed, currently, with 4 different church service "productions." Our first was last night, with a special Maundy Thursday service and drama with full orchestra. Tonight is the second, for Good Friday, that includes about 30-35 minutes of a musical we did last year, and the year before called "One Upon a Tree." The portion to be performed during the service tonight includes the most of the final portion of this passion drama, up to Jesus' crucifixion. Again, this will feature a full orchestra and choir, plus soloists. Pontius Pilate is one of the characters. The shot below was taken by my friend Larry at one of the previous years rehearsals.

This is next to Ronnies Plaza and in the same building as "Incredible Pizza" (our tenents!). For South County residents, this is probably known as the old Target building. I'll be running sound for the orchestra and soloists. See you there.

March 23, 2009

Last fall, our church's theater company, "Christ Memorial Productions (CMP)", put on the show "The Music Man." Check out the October and November 2008 posts for LOTS of information on this show.

Every year, the organization "Arts for Life" holds an awards show for local amateur theater. In last year's awards, my wifewon an award (two links) for her role in "Narnia!" This year's nominees were announced last night and our production of "The Music Man" was nominated an astounding twelve times!

Here are our nominations:

Best Musical Production - Large Ensemble (This is the equivalent of the Oscar's "Best Picture!")

Congratulations to all our nominees and the many many many other people that made this show such a sellout success! We typically have somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 people working on each production.

Please go to the "Arts for Life" website for a list of the other amazing nominated shows from 2008. We have a great theater community in St. Louis.

Now you know what you were missing, if you didn't go last year! This fall, in September, we will be doing "Annie" for two weeks. Mark your calendars and watch here and on the CMP website for detailed information including auditions and ticket sales.

March 02, 2009

For most of my life, there have been three main pastimes that have held my interest: Music, Photography, and Trains. Music is most likely the earliest that I remember and have done in some form or other since second grade, photography was the type of art I settled on, and I have always loved trains - both model trains and real trains.

While the train hobby is on extended hold (model trains take up a LOT of space - space we don't have), I'm sure it will come back someday. In case you haven't noticed, my wife has the ability to BUILD stuff and she loves miniatures, such as doll houses. (click here and here to see some pics!) This is a hobby we may someday enjoy together.

My photography has been given a big boost with our purchase of a Nikon D60 DSLR last year. I had stopped using our film SLRs due to the high cost of film and developing. The Nikon has been a blessing! In fact, I started this blog in large part as a place to make use of my photography and to encourage me to continue to take pictures.

In the music arena, there has not been a time since second grade when I HAVEN'T been playing music. My wife is a singer, and we sing/play in our church every single week. I play keyboards of all sorts as well as guitars.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend I've known since grade school was playing bass with me, and after rehearsal, we started messing around with music that I haven't played since we played in High School and college. I WAS UNBELIEVABLY BAD! This came something as a surprise to me because, like I said, I've been playing continuously my whole life. After a momentary depression and introspection, I think I realized what the problem is...I'm in a rut.

I'm not saying that the playing I'm doing now for the church is BAD or isn't enjoyable, it's just that I have not found the time since college to really work on music. While I am adept at learning all the songs I need to learn, my technical proficiency and application of theory has actually decreased. Additionally, I'm not playing the music that I'm most interested in AT ALL. As a result, my musical satisfaction level is very low.

To make matters worse, my primary equipment stays at my church for convenience, leaving little to use at home. Fortunately, we have the acoustic piano (a REAL piano!) that I learned on as a kid at our house, so I can work on keyboard techniques - and at least PLAY every day. I'm really suffering on guitar, though.

If all I wanted to do was learn current music that's on the radio or re-learn songs I once knew, my recovery period would probably not be so long. Unfortunately, the music I'm a big fan of is pretty difficult. To do a good job, you have to have some serious chops!

So, this past week, I've made a late New Years Resolution to get back up to speed on guitar, relearn all that I've lost, and get better than I've ever been! So, I'm drawing up plans to build a new guitar rig at home suitable for both practice and my ultimate modern guitar goals, and I'm going to try to commit at least SOME time each day to practice.

Yesterday, I hauled out the cute little Fender Champ II that was my first guitar amp and I'm practicing with that for now. It's certainly all I need to get working on the theory and exercises - it just doesn't sound right for playing the actual songs. That can certainly wait, though. I don't know if I'll ever get to the point where I can actually play my favorite music, which would require more time than I seem to have, but at least I'm back on my way!